THE LUCKY W AMULET ARCHIVE
AN ILLUSTRATED MUSEUM OF LUCKY CHARMS, TALISMANS, AND PROTECTION AMULETS
by
CATHERINE YRONWODE
The Lucky W Amulet Archive is a folkloric resource that contains hundreds of interlinked pages describing and illustrating amulets, talismans, lucky charms, and good luck pieces from all around the world and from all eras of history. It is a book in progress, and new pages are added on a regular basis.The publication of The Lucky W Amulet Archive on the web is sponsored by The Lucky Mojo Curio Co. Occult Shop, but although some of the good luck charms and amulets in the Archive are available at the shop, the Archive is not a catalogue of goods for sale and, indeed, many of the objects shown are antiques and museum pieces of great rarity.
There are four ways to navigate the Lucky W Amulet Archive:
- Browse through the Lucky W Amulet Archive Site Map, clicking links of interest.
- Locate an amulet, talisman, or lucky piece by name in the Lucky W Alphabetical Index:
- Use ATOMZ.COM to search the entire Lucky Mojo occult and magical web site for a keyword (like hoodoo or mojo or candle or love spell):
- Select from among the most popular Lucky W topics, listed here:
Lucky W speaks to me of Aunt Sally's Policy Players Dream Book and Pow-Wows or The Long Lost Friend; of the Lucky 7 Grocery Store in Nevada City, California; of childhood Westerns set on ranches known by letter-brands, like the Flying A and the B-Bar-B; of radio station "KDIA Lucky 13," playing R&B music out of Oakland, California (and its remarkable, musically unresolved theme jingle); of Clover brand valve grinding compound with its four-leaf clover logo; of the cosmetics called Lucky Brown; of early 20th century "Good Luck" postcards; of fresh fruit from California's Central Valley packed in wooden crates with beautiful figurative labels and brand names like Lucky Celery; of musicians like Lucky Millinder and Lucky Otis and Lucky Wilbury; of Erle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason mystery, "The Case of the Lucky Legs," set in 1930s southern California; of canned vegetables from California sold under the Double Luck and Lucky Trail brand names; of the 1920s British cigarette trading cards called Wills's Lucky Charms; of Jelke Good Luck Oleomargarine, which in the 1920s offered "Good Luck and Good Health to Millions of Happy Little American Boys and Girls"; of Lucky Luke cowboy comics (in French) and Lady Luck comics (In English); of the seventh son of a seventh son; of air-conditioned motels like the Flying W Lodge in Ozona, Texas; of the garden roses "Lucky Piece" and "Lucky Lady"; and of all manner of hoodoo potions, like Sonny Boy's Lucky Hand Alleged Indian Grandma oil and Double Fast Luck Soap, which i used to buy in Oakland, and magnetic sand, which i bought on Maxwell Street in Chicago way back in 1964, and High John the Conqueror root, which i saw for sale in New Orleans -- and, of course, my own Lucky Mojo brand Spiritual Supplies.
Why the name "Lucky W"?
That, friends, is a strange tale.
This web site grew out of alt.lucky.w, a usenet newsgroup devoted to discussion of the metaphysics of beneficent synchronicity and descriptions of, experiences with, and rationales for the operation of artifacts, tokens, and devices intended to increase beneficent synchronicity and decrease malevolent synchronicity. Alt.lucky.w was an "abandoned" newsgroup, adrift without a hierarchy, empty of any posts, its original purpose unknown even to The Cabal when i learned of its existence in 1994, through Froggy's Usenet Salvage Company. At that time, propagation of the group was so low that only two service providers were known to carry it. For some reason the name haunted me, though, and i campaigned to get America Online and other ISPs to pick it up. (You can do the same with your ISP -- just read and follow my directions for getting your ISP to carry alt.lucky.w.) As soon as i gained admission to the group, i decided to write an alt.lucky.w FAQ (although no one but me had any questions, frequently-asked or otherwise). In answering my own questions, i found a purpose for the group, and from that purpose has grown this web archive. Then, as if from the void, the creator of alt.lucky.w appeared and told the story of how the newsgroup came to be!
His name (his given, birth name) is Lucky Wayne Donegan, and here is his story:
A long time ago back in college I was trying to set up a new group for computer science; this goes back about 7+ years ago, to 1988-9, when I had the IQ of plant life. I made a real big goof and the area was accidentally created, unintentionally, for whatever it's worth.
You can add this information to the web site if you wish. I have no problems with it. I am rather open minded. Being named Lucky cannot be as bad as being named the Boy named Sue (Johnny Cash's song). Believe me that name has darn near cost me my life on occasions and at other times a tremendous amount of embarrassment. However, I have learned if I cannot laugh at myself or at life it's not worth living, so HAVE FUN. Just keep me posted, ok?
Lucky W. Donegan
lucky@netrix.net
Montana Computer Nut Software, Inc.
P. O. Box 1647
Polson, Montana 59860
P.S.: I live on the Flathead Indian Reservation; it's a Confederation of the Salish & Kootenai Tribes and is one of richest Indian Reservations in Montana.
This man CHANGED MY LIFE!!!
Because of his name and a mistake he made while messing around with computers, i
- took on the rehabilitation of the alt.lucky.w newsgroup in 1994,
- renewed my lifelong interest in folk magic by teaching myself HTML code in 1995 and writing web pages on the subject,
- acquired the luckymojo.com domain to house my web pages in 1996,
- started my own Lucky Mojo online spiritual supply company to support the web site in 1997,
- began to hang out in other usenet newsgroups devoted to magic in 1994 and thus met my husband, nagasiva, in 1998 and was married to him as the odometer shuffled from 1999 to 2000, and,
- in 2002, wrote and published a book on folk magic called "Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic".
- in 2003, commenced teaching an Online Correspondence Course in Hoodoo Rootwork Magic.
I am completely in awe of the complexity of the universe and the arbitrary nature of many of its little wrinkles and fractal permutations.
I hereby declare Lucky W. Donegan the Creator of alt.lucky.w and nominate him to the post of Ascended Master.
Whew.
Art Credit: The images on this page are a combination of scans from my collection of lucky talismans, candles, and paper goods, and labels that i have designed for the Lucky Mojo Curio Co. The lovely border artwork was composited by an unknown web designer who stole the images of objects from my Lucky W Amulet Archive and lifted my retro-deco label art from the Lucky Mojo Curio Co. Occult Shop catalogue without credit to me. To paraphrase the words of the great blues singer Robert Johnson, "Somebody got lucky and stole them back again."
copyright © 1995-2010 catherine yronwode. All rights reserved.
Send your comments to:cat yronwode.
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LUCKY MOJO is a large domain that is organized into a number of
interlinked web sites, each with its own distinctive theme and look.
You are currently reading
THE LUCKY W AMULET ARCHIVE by cat yronwode.
Here are some other LUCKY MOJO web sites you can visit:OCCULTISM, MAGIC SPELLS, MYSTICISM, RELIGION, SYMBOLISM
Hoodoo in Theory and Practice by cat yronwode: an introduction to African-American rootwork
Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic by cat yronwode: a materia magica of African-American conjure
Lucky W Amulet Archive by cat yronwode: an online museum of worldwide talismans and charms
Sacred Sex: essays and articles on tantra yoga, neo-tantra, karezza, sex magic, and sex worship
Sacred Landscape: essays and articles on archaeoastronomy and sacred geometry
Freemasonry for Women by cat yronwode: a history of mixed-gender Freemasonic lodges
The Lucky Mojo Esoteric Archive: captured internet text files on occult and spiritual topics
Lucky Mojo Usenet FAQ Archive: FAQs and REFs for occult and magical usenet newsgroups
Aleister Crowley Text Archive: a multitude of texts by an early 20th century occultist
Lucky Mojo Magic Spells Archives: love spells, money spells, luck spells, protection spells, and more
Free Love Spell Archive love spells, attraction spells, sex magick, romance spells, and lust spells
Free Money Spell Archive money spells, prosperity spells, and wealth spells for job and business
Free Protection Spell Archive protection spells against witchcraft, jinxes, hexes, and the evil eye
Free Gambling Luck Spell Archive lucky gambling spells for the lottery, casinos, and racesPOPULAR CULTURE
Hoodoo and Blues Lyrics: transcriptions of blues songs about African-American folk magic
EaRhEaD!'S Syd Barrett Lyrics Site: lyrics by the founder of the Pink Floyd Sound
The Lesser Book of the Vishanti: Dr. Strange Comics as a magical system, by cat yronwode
The Spirit Checklist: a 1940s newspaper comic book by Will Eisner, indexed by cat yronwode
Fit to Print: collected weekly columns about comics and pop culture by cat yronwode
Eclipse Comics Index: a list of all Eclipse comics, albums, and trading cardsEDUCATION AND OUTREACH
Hoodoo Rootwork Correspondence Course with cat yronwode: 52 weekly lessons by email
Hoodoo Conjure Training Workshops: hands-on rootwork classes, lectures, and seminars
Lucky Mojo Community Forum: an online message board for our occult spiritual shop customers
Lucky Mojo Hoodoo Rootwork Hour Radio Show: learn free magic spells via podcast download
Lucky Mojo Newsletter Archive: subscribe and receive discount coupons and free magick spells
Follow Us on Facebook: get company news and product updates as a Lucky Mojo Facebook FanONLINE SHOPPING
The Lucky Mojo Curio Co.: spiritual supplies for hoodoo, magick, witchcraft, and conjure
Herb Magic: complete line of Lucky Mojo Herbs, Minerals, and Zoological Curios, with sample spells
Mystic Tea Room Gift Shop: antique, vintage, and contemporary fortune telling tea cupsPERSONAL SITES
catherineyronwode: the eclectic and eccentric author of many of the above web pages
nagasiva yronwode: tyaginator, nigris (333), nocTifer, lorax666, boboroshi, Troll, !
Liselotte Erlanger Glozer: illustrated articles on collectible vintage postcards
Jackie Payne: Shades of Blues: a San Francisco Bay Area blues singerADMINISTRATIVE
Lucky Mojo Site Map: the home page for the whole Lucky Mojo electron-pile
All the Pages: descriptive named links to about 1,000 top-level Lucky Mojo web pages
How to Contact Us: we welcome feedback and suggestions regarding maintenance of this site
Make a Donation: please send us a small Paypal donation to keep us in bandwidth and macs!
SEARCH ALL OF LUCKY MOJO There are 6,000 web pages at Lucky Mojo. You can search for a single word (like mojo, hoodoo, pagan, or magick) or an exact phrase (like love spells, witchcraft supplies, or rootwork course):
OTHER SITES OF INTEREST
Arcane Archive: thousands of archived Usenet posts on religion, magic, spell-casting, mysticism, and spirituality
Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers: psychic reading, conjure, and hoodoo root doctor services
Candles and Curios: essays and articles on traditional African American conjure and folk magic, plus shopping
Crystal Silence League: online prayer request network; upload your prayers here and pray for the welfare of others
Garden of Joy Blues: former 80 acre hippie commune near Birch Tree in the Missouri Ozarks
Gospel of Satan: the story of Jesus and the angels, from the perspective of the God of this World
Missionary Independent Spiritual Church: spirit-led, inter-faith; prayer-light services; Smallest Church in the World
Mystic Tea Room: tea leaf reading, teacup divination, and a museum of antique fortune telling cups
Satan Service: an archive presenting the theory, practice, and history of Satanism and Satanists
Southern Spirits: 19th and 20th century accounts of hoodoo, including ex-slave narratives & interviews
Tiger Tiger: prayer flags, singing bowls, beads, ritual religious statues, and altar tools from Thailand and Nepal
Spiritual Spells: lessons in folk magic and spell casting from an eclectic Wiccan perspective, plus shopping
Yronwode Home: personal pages of catherine yronwode and nagasiva yronwode, magical archivists
Yronwode Institution: the Yronwode Institution for the Preservation and Popularization of Indigenous Ethnomagicology
